Posted by A couple of weeks before Christmas I reached out to friends, family and In Nica Now fans and followers for some help. I asked people to purchase gifts for the Barrio Planta Project Preschool. (To view my original post click here.)
Donations immediately started pouring in.
I was – and still am – blown away.
Thirty people donated a total of $912.
Yes, that’s right, $912!
We also received gift donations from an additional nine people.
With the money collected and gifts received we not only have enough coloring books, crayons, toys, games, puzzles and arts & craft supplies to sustain the preschool program for a year, we were also able to allocate $200 for supplies for some of the other programs at BPP.
Preschool classes were not in session when my sister, my Dad and I delivered everything to the school, but fortunately there were a few older students around who snuck out of class to help us unpack everything and share in our excitement.
The children had huge smiles on their faces as we unpacked two large suitcases.
They were wide eyed with excitement as they tried to make a decision on what to play with first. I kept hearing the words “Wow!” and “Mira! Mira!” [“Look! Look!”].
We colored for a bit, tried on a few of the costumes and we even had time for a tea party.
The girls really enjoyed the dolls and boys loved the plastic animals and dinky cars.
Thanks to the generosity of donors from Canada, the United States and Nicaragua Barrio Planta Project Preschool program can now operate like a typical North American preschool.
I look forward to visiting the preschool kids next week once classes resume on the 19th. And I can’t wait to play a game of Snakes & Ladders!
To learn more about Barrio Planta Project and how you can help make a difference in the life of a child in Nicaragua check out the official Barrio Planta Project website by clicking here.
It was great to be at the school with Elisha and help unpack the supplies. The smiles on the kids faces certianly lit up my day. I am very proud of my daughter Elisha for taking on this project and helping the children in her new community.
Willard MacKay
Thanks, Dad! I’m so glad you were here and could take part in this special project.
Love,
Elisha
What a fabulous response! Sorry that I missed out. I’ll be arriving in Granada in mid-April. At some point I am hoping that I can meet the two of you. I’ve been a fan of your In Nica Now blog for several months. In fact, that’s how I got in touch with Glenn Koons and made arrangements for a place to live over the next year.
Steve,
I think you’re going to be really enjoy living at Vista Mombacho. The apartments are super! Glenn is a great guy who works really hard at helping the expat community in Granada stay connected.
We’d love to meet you one day!
Elisha
It’s great to see the photos of everything being opened. It was a lot of fun to be a part of this! Thank you to you & your family for making it happen.
Nice to the children happy . It all looks great. Thanks for posting the pictures and taking the initiative to take on such a project.
Ron
Elisha, great job, I got to see the “stuff” at the school when I visited San Juan del Sur in January. I could recognize the areas of the school having seen your photos of the school happenings in the past months. It was really great just to be there and see where the kids have an opportunity for learning, playing and just socializing. Keep up the great work! Please give a big thanks for all the staff there for caring about the needs of the children in San Juan del Sur. How is Maggie Mae doing?
Nice pics Elisha of you guys with the kids. Donate again in a heartbeat! Keep up the great work!
Thank you for organizing this, and doing a great job with the pictures. I like that you bought stuff for pretend play. Last Spring we brought a duffle bag full of legos and puzzles to La Esperanza Granada. I was happy to be able to donate to this project too.
The pictures are so heartwarming. We are thrilled to be a small part of your outreach. The children look like they are taking some serious pleasure in all that new, fun stuff. Makes me happy too. I’ve heard it said that a people never stand so tall as when they stoop to help a little child.
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:11:12 +0000 To: pilgrimandpatriot@hotmail.com